North Shore ski hills close amid onslaught of rain and warm temperatures
Puddles and patchy runs at Cypress, Grouse and Seymour mountains as temperatures reach into teens at base
All three ski hills near Vancouver closed Wednesday amid an extended period of extremely warm and wet weather that is wreaking havoc with local snow enthusiasts' plans.
Cypress Mountain shut down both its downhill and cross country ski areas amid the heavy rain and decreasing snow pack, with mountain webcams showing growing puddles at the base of the chair lifts and runs dotted with bare spots where the snow has been washed away.
The downhill area at Grouse Mountain also closed to skiing, snowboarding and sledding, although the company website does still list the snowshoe area as open.
Mt. Seymour also posted it was closed for inclement weather Wednesday as the freezing level pushed up to 2,400 metres, more than 1,000 metres higher than the resort's runs. The notice says Seymour plans to reopen on Thursday.
Temperatures along the base of Metro Vancouver's North Shore mountains rose to more than 14 C by noon Wednesday. Thursday's forecast is similar, with rain changing to showers in the evening, according to Environment Canada.
On Tuesday, West Vancouver's high of 17.8 C smashed the local daily temperature record of 15.5 C set in 1995.
West Vancouver was one of 23 B.C. locations that broke daily high temperature records for Jan. 30.